DoD

Air Force: Force shaping board to convene in July

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas — The Air Force will convene a fiscal 2014 Force Shaping Board here July 14 to consider eligible officers within competitive categories for continued retention, Air Force Personnel Center officials said Monday.

Categories include line of the Air Force, LAF-judge advocate, biomedical sciences corps, dental corps, medical service corps and nurse corps.

The purpose of the board is to retain officers whose careers illustrate suitability for continued service and future leadership roles, said Lt. Col. Rick Garcia, AFPC retirements and separations branch chief. “The board will make its determination using information such as selection briefs, performance reports, training reports and decorations,” Garcia said. “The board will also consider officers’ retention recommendation forms and any letters submitted by eligible officers to provide additional relevant information that is not included in other documents.”

The board will evaluate active-duty LAF captains and first lieutenants in the 2009, 2010 and 2011 accession year groups as computed by total active federal commissioned service date. The board will also consider LAF-J officers with a Jan. 1, 2009 to Dec. 31, 2011 date of rank to captain. The board will consider lieutenant colonels and below in the medical competitive categories in the 2009, 2010 and 2011 year groups.

Officers who are not selected for retention must separate no later than Dec. 31.

Officers who have an approved date of separation, or DOS, before Dec. 31, 2014 and those who entered active duty later than July 15, 2012 will not meet the board, Garcia said. Officers with an approved DOS after Dec. 31, 2014 remain eligible for board consideration, and if they are not selected for retention, their DOS will be curtailed to Dec. 31.

In addition, officers with six or more years of total federal commissioned service or who have 15 or more years of total active service as of the mandatory separation date will not meet the board.

A retention recommendation form must be accomplished for all eligible officers by their respective senior rater. Recommendation forms must be submitted to AFPC by June 12.

Officers eligible to meet the force shaping board are authorized to submit a letter to the board to address matters they believe merit consideration, Garcia said. Such letters must reach AFPC by July 10.

Officers who are not selected for retention will not have to repay unearned portions of education assistance funds, special pay, bonuses or other monetary incentives. For specifics on Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits, officers should review PSDM 13-131 at myPers or contact the career development section at their local military personnel section.

Officers with more than six years of active service may apply for voluntary separation pay. Those officers not selected for retention are also entitled to full separation pay if they have six or more but less than 20 years of active service as of the separation date. To be eligible for separation pay, officers must also sign the Individual Ready Reserve statement.

Officers selected for separation are authorized transition assistance program benefits, including permissive temporary duty, 180 days extended medical care for themselves and their Families, and an identification card that grants commissary and exchange privileges for two years.

All separating and retiring Airmen must attend a transition assistance program, or TAP, offered at their local Airman and Family Readiness Center. The program includes congressionally mandated pre-separation counseling; a required five-day workshop; veterans benefit briefings, which include details on disability; one-on-one assistance to develop an individual transition plan and a capstone which requires commander concurrence that the member has met all career readiness standards.

Other related services include employment resources; financial planning and management; spouse employment assistance; relocation assistance and general information and referral.

“We highly encourage all Airmen affected by force management programs to sign up early for a TAP class,” Garcia said. “Force management coupled with routine separations and retirements activity will have a significant impact on available class seats. So waiting until you learn the results of the board may prevent you from getting into a conveniently-scheduled class.”

For more information about the force shaping board, including RRF instructions and guidance on providing letters to the board, go myPers and enter PSDM 13-131 in the search window.

WASHINGTON – Part of Defense Department Chief Information Officer Terry Halvorsen’s work these days involves launching the Pentagon’s first wireless network and managing the rollout of “secure enough” mobile devices, he told an audience here recently. Halvorsen opened July 9’s DOD CIO Mobility Industry Day with keynote remarks to an audience of more than 600...

The Department of the Army announced Thursday force structure decisions and stationing plans for the reduction of the regular Army from 490,000 to 450,000 soldiers. The reduction of force structure will occur in fiscal years 2016 and 2017; the reduction of 40,000 end strength will be completed by the end of fiscal year 2018, and...

MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. – A UH-1N Iroquois crew assigned to the 40th Helicopter Squadron here rescued an injured female hiker in the Big Horn Mountain Range roughly 15 miles west of Buffalo, Wyoming, July 5 at approximately 5:20 a.m. The rescue marked the 408th save for the 40th HS. The aircrew consisted of...

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio — Imagine facing down a raging fire, up close, with little or no time to save lives and protect property, hauling 75-pound hoses up multiple flights of stairs; carrying victims out and repeatedly putting your life on the line. Then imagine doing it nearly every day. It’s an extreme job...

Information

Publisher

This newspaper is an authorized publication for members of the United States Army. Contents of The Fort Huachuca Scout are not necessarily the official views of, or endorsed by the United States Government, Department of Defense, Department of Army or the United States Army Intelligence Center of Excellence, Fort Huachuca, or Aerotech News and Review, Inc.

Disclaimer

All editorial content of The Fort Huachuca Scout is prepared, edited, provided and approved by the PAO. The Fort Huachuca Scout is printed by Aerotech News and Review, a private firm in no way connected with DA, under exclusive written contract with Fort Huachuca U.S. Army Garrison. The civilian printer is responsible for all advertising.